MB 05 Meditation On Wisdom For Life

Meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition following a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This track is the Dharma-lite version of a guided meditation that advocates believing in your ability to succeed in meditation. The 'literal translation' version from a Thai Buddhist teacher. No end sound.

Transcript

The wisdom of life.

So,

From this moment forth,

May all of you make the firm intention to meditate to the best of your ability,

Realigning yourselves with the pathway to Nirvana.

May all of you sit cross-legged,

With your right leg on your left leg,

Your right hand on your left hand,

The index finger of your right hand touching against the thumb of your left hand,

With your hands resting gently,

Palm upwards on your lap.

Close your eyes very gently,

Just as if you were only half closing your eyes,

Similar to the way you may close your eyes just before going to sleep.

Never squeeze your eyes closed and make sure there's no pressure around your eyes.

You'll have no tension around your eyes and your body will be completely relaxed.

And fill your mind with happiness and joy,

So that your mind feels refreshed and pure,

Clear and bright,

Free of any sort of worries whatsoever.

No matter what sort of worries might come through your mind,

Let go of them all completely.

Forget about all the things of the world,

Allowing your mind to be completely still.

And imagine that inside your body is free of any organs or tissues,

Any muscles or bones,

As if inside your body is just an empty space.

Just like a hollow cavity inside yourself,

Rather like a crystal tube or a diamond tube.

Today as we meditate,

We take the opportunity to revise some points of technique in meditation,

Which will be particularly useful for anyone who feels that they are being held back in meditation by insufficient understanding.

We have all been doing the ten items of homework mentioned in the dream kindergarten every day,

Practicing regularly.

We have already started to understand the most efficient way to bring the mind to the center of our bodies.

With experience,

Even just thinking about the center of the body,

You'll find that your mind is already there at that point,

Two finger breaths above the navel.

If you are adept,

You will find that your mind can go straight through the center of the body.

However,

For those of you who have not progressed this far,

You have to start off by resting your mind at the point which for you feels like the point of greatest contentment,

Without worrying too much about the precise position of the center of the body.

Put your mind at the point which feels most comfortable and easy for you,

And you'll find that the happiness from meditation will gradually become apparent to you.

You will start to feel that the solidity of your body is melting away into the atmosphere around you,

Starting to become more hollow and empty inside,

As if you feel spaciousness,

Or as if you were alone in empty space.

Some people will feel as if their body has disappeared altogether,

As if all that's left is the feeling of your awareness.

Some people don't know what to do next when they reach this point in their meditation,

Where their body seems to have disappeared.

But the thing which one ought to do is just to rest our mind at whatever point feels the most comfortable for us,

Starting off with our mind there.

Once our mind comes fully into equilibrium,

You will start to realize that the mind is automatically realigning itself with the real center of the body.

Some people may find it useful to imagine a bright clear object about the size of a pinpoint,

Or like a star in the sky,

As if one is appearing at the point where the mind has come to a standstill.

We should keep such an image in the mind,

Gazing at it continuously and softly,

But never attempting to stare,

Almost as if you are looking at it out of the corner of your eye,

Almost unintentionally.

If we can observe it in the proper way,

Without using too little or too much effort,

In doing so,

Before long we will be able to perceive something.

However,

If we use too much force,

It will disappear.

If we use too little effort,

Allowing ourselves to become distracted,

Then we will find that the object will disappear.

So either way,

Too much effort or too little,

It will disappear.

And finding the optimum effort by which we can see the object the whole of the time.

This is the real skill which we have to build up in our meditation.

This is what we have to work on.

What we have to do is simply to allow our mind to remain at the standstill without letting any questions come up in our mind,

No doubts,

As if we were just an inanimate piece of putty which was unable to think,

Like an object which has never had any thought of its own before.

If this is how you start to feel about yourself,

Then this is the proper approach to the meditation.

If you are unable to think anymore,

This will stand you in Guinstead,

All the way from the beginning of meditation to the more advanced stages.

Because education through meditation is beyond the realm of conceptual thinking.

It is knowledge that arises when the mind is free of thought.

It is pure,

Bright knowledge.

We learn merely by what we see,

Acquiring the knowledge directly.

It is rather different from the modes of learning we are used to.

We have to study and memorize,

Read and write to increase your knowledge.

The sort of knowledge we are talking about is a knowledge which comes independent of thought.

It can arise only in a mind which is free of thought,

A mind that is at a standstill.

In Buddhism,

Such knowledge is called Pavanamayappanaya,

The wisdom arising from a still mind.

It is practiced until it gives rise to inner brightness in the mind,

And through the brightness we are able to see more than before,

And by seeing more than before,

We learn new things about the reality of life in the world.

This process is the opposite to our habitual methods of learning new things in the world.

It allows us access to knowledge from inside.

However,

If we try to apply the external methods of education to our meditation,

It will be more of a hindrance and a help,

So please remember these words well.

All we require in our meditation is merely to bring our mind to a standstill.

In fact,

You can bring your mind to a standstill anywhere at all in the beginning.

Only when your mind is subtle and pliable will it be ready to make its way to the centre of the body.

A mind that is properly adapted will have the feeling of being alive and awake inside.

It will have a feeling that is completely different from feelings encountered during the mundane run of events in our life.

It will be as if something wonderful is stirring within us,

With a quality completely different from our external feeling.

Therefore,

Bringing the mind inside to the seventh base of the mind takes only a very gentle attention.

Like an intention,

On the off chance it will bring our mind to the centre of the body.

Once our mind comes to a standstill,

At this point of stillness in our centre,

It will remain still from that time onwards,

Gently in stillness at the centre of the body.

You have to make sure that you are always having a feeling of ease in your meditation.

If you ever feel that you are putting up a struggle in your meditation or trying to force it,

Then that is not the proper method at all.

This applies both to body and to mind.

If you find a feeling of tension inside,

You need to relax yourself further,

Particularly your nervous system and your muscles,

Before you continue with your meditation.

Once your body is relaxed,

Your mind will relax as well.

Your body will be completely relaxed and still.

So we have to train our mind in this way,

And at that point we will be able to see a bright,

Clear sphere inside ourselves.

Even with our eyes closed,

It will not be dark inside for us anymore.

We will be able to maintain our mind internally,

Stopping it from wandering anywhere else easily the whole of the time,

Maintaining the mind in equilibrium at the centre of the body.

We will find that there is a feeling of expansion inside.

With such a feeling of expansion,

We will have a sense that we are being drawn inwards,

As if we are being attracted through into a new dimension by a giant magnet deep inside us.

At this point,

Some meditators may respond to the new experience with surprise or even fright,

Because it's something they have never encountered before.

However,

We must just comply with whatever is the nature of our mind.

We have to just let such experiences be,

Rather than struggling against them or even reacting to them.

We must remain impartial to the inner experience,

Allowing it to follow through by itself.

We will see that the study of inner knowledge like this is all the outcome of placing our mind by the proper method at the centre of the body.

If you can do this before long,

We will be able to manage the proper method wherever we are.

But in the beginning,

It is important that we have the confidence in our own ability to meditate.

We have to believe that we are going to be able to make progress in our meditation.

We have to believe that it's merely a question of having a proper understanding of the method.

Thus,

All it takes is to study the method properly,

And you'll be able to make progress.

Don't go doubting your potential to make progress in meditation.

Some people tend to dwell on the bad deeds they've done in the past,

Thinking that they are at a disadvantage in meditation because of them.

Others think they've had a clouded mind for the best part of their life,

And it's going to be impossible to teach an old dog new tricks.

Such thinking is not worthy of DMC viewers.

If we lack confidence in ourselves,

We can't expect to make a success of anything.

The fact that even with our eyes shut,

We can spoon food into our mouths or point directly to the tip of our nose should dispel any doubts we have about bringing the mind to the centre of the body,

Because after all,

We already know everything about the meditation technique you need to know.

All the know-how necessary to achieve success in meditation has already been put at your disposal.

Nothing has been kept back.

You have to train yourself and devote yourself passionately to the practice of meditation in every spare moment you have,

Because this is the knowledge that is the most important knowledge in life.

Even though you might have got yourself a doctorate degree,

It can only ever help you to earn your living more easily or to win acceptance in the eyes of society,

To bolster your reputation.

But once you come to the point where you're on your deathbed,

Even the best of academic knowledge will not help you to get a better place in your afterlife.

But the things we are studying here to do with the stillness of the mind,

These are the things which are the most important of all.

They are the real knowledge of life.

We must give this knowledge due importance.

You can train yourself in meditation any time and any place,

When taking a wash,

Washing up,

Sweeping the garden or mopping the floor.

You can train yourself to keep your mind at the centre of the body the whole of the time,

Whether standing,

Walking,

Sitting or lying down.

Even when paying a visit to the restroom,

You can train yourself in meditation while sitting there.

You already know all the principles of maintaining subtlety of mind,

Maintaining mindfulness and self-possession hand in hand regularly and consistently.

You can imagine a visual object at your centre if you wish,

Or you can simply rest your mind at the centre while observing whatever arises there spontaneously.

You can imagine an image like a bright sphere or a Buddha image,

Or any of the root teachers for whom you have particular faith.

You can even think of something as simple as a piece of fruit.

Any image will serve for this purpose,

As long as it is not an image that stirs up unwholesome emotions in your mind.

When imagining the object,

You already have all the know-how you need,

Such as using only the gentlest of effort when imagining.

If you haven't struck the right balance when focusing,

Using too much or too little effort,

Then your body will tell you about it.

Too much effort and you'll end up with tension on your eyebrows or across your shoulders,

And you may end up with a headache.

If you find that your fingers are curling up or your abdomen is tense,

Then you are trying too hard.

However,

If you succumb to boredom or you find yourself looking at the clock,

Again these are the signs that you haven't struck the right balance.

Don't struggle on if you have these sort of symptoms,

But you have to readjust your technique,

Relax yourself and be more at ease in your meditation.

Once you are back on the right track,

The sign will be a sensation of bodily lightness and expansion inside yourself,

And your mind will feel light,

Pliable and easy to work with.

You'll feel that time passes by more quickly than it really does,

And you'll feel that you don't want the meditation to come to an end,

As if you'd like to extend the length of your meditation,

As if you've been glued to your meditation mat.

When your meditation is going well,

Your body will automatically set itself up in a position of poise where the body seems to inflate itself into the most elegant and upright of postures.

When we feel that we are happy with our meditation,

When we have a smile on our face,

These are all indications that we are on the right track with our meditation technique.

On the contrary,

If the more we sit for meditation the more upset or depressed we feel,

Then this would show that we have not adjusted our mind in the proper way.

If you start out in meditation looking as if you are 20 and end up looking as if you are 40,

Then you need to readjust your meditation technique.

You know the difference between right and wrong technique perfectly well,

So all that is lacking is the confidence that we can achieve success in meditation and to train ourselves continuously while being observant of all the things which aid or obstruct our progress.

Once we are properly adjusted,

Body and mind will be clear and bright.

Simply putting our mind at the centre of the body will cause the sphere there to expand and we will fall through the centre to find the next sphere inside.

If the mind comes to a standstill at the centre of that sphere,

Then there will be a new one brighter and clearer than the last appearing at the centre.

And before long we will be able to attain the inner bodies and attain the body of enlightenment within ourselves,

Exactly according to the recipe for success discovered by the great Abbot of Wat Phuk Nam.

Because all of these things are inside the body of every person and that includes us too.

We know the difference between right and wrong methodology,

So therefore we should train ourselves continuously according to the proper way.

Don't be lazy and don't prevaricate about getting down to meditation in earnest.

And when you feel your meditation is going well,

Don't give up immediately,

But give it a little while longer than usual.

Don't go thinking,

Today I've had a good meditation but I'm in a rush to go to bed.

I guess I'll be able to sit for meditation even better tomorrow.

Never think like that because the opportunity for meditation to go well happens only very rarely.

All the effort we have invested in our meditation is made worthwhile by the days when our meditation goes well,

So don't waste it.

Don't go worrying about missing out on your beauty sleep because we've already spent a third of our lives asleep.

One night of missed sleep won't harm you.

So give due importance to the meditation.

If your meditation is going well,

You should continue with it.

Your body will indicate by itself when it needs rest and that will be the right time to sleep.

You ought to go to bed because your body needs it,

Not because your mind is worried about the lack of sleep or looking exhausted at work or not being able to think through decisions clearly in the morning.

Don't harbour such lazy temptations in your mind because the opportunity of your mind to come into equilibrium is rarer in anyone's lifetime than winning first prize on the lottery.

So if you find your meditation is going well,

Then know it's useful to continue for meditation longer than usual and this will help you to go much further because the results of making even a one-time breakthrough in your meditation will stay with you for the rest of your life.

However,

If you give up your meditation just as it's going well,

Even though you come back to the meditation at a later time,

It may mean that you will never get those good experiences back again.

It may take us many more years to get back to the same point in our meditation again.

So we should cherish our meditation experiences and rather than remembering the experience which we had on a particular day,

We should try to remember the methodology we used to reach the experience on that day because there's a temptation to remember just the experiences while forgetting how we got there.

So take care to remember all the advice and know-how mentioned today because one day it will allow you to attain the triple gem inside yourself and you will literally be able to have the triple gem as your refuge or your life with happiness from the moment you attain it,

Leading you to the fortunate realms after your death,

Allowing you to study about the reality of life in the world and when you come to do meritorious deeds,

Even though the amount of the meritorious deeds may be small,

The amount of merit we gain will be large.

It will allow our mind to be radiant the whole of the time.

There are countless things which we can attain if we reach the triple gem inside ourselves.

So anyone who is sleepy,

Fatigued or tense in their meditation should allow themselves to fall asleep at the centre as they sit and continue with their meditation when they wake up.

Anyone who has aches and pains should change posture.

If your stream of thoughts is never-ending,

Open your eyes and close them again.

May all of you be fulfilled in your wish to attain the triple gem inside yourself.

Now,

Each their own meditation for a few more moments in silence until we come to the appropriate time.